Abbott’s cycles of hell

Politics is full of throwaway lines, terms used by commentators without any explanation or analysis. One of them is the notion of a political honeymoon.

That new leaders can receive a honeymoon says something about the attention span of modern society. As life’s pace has accelerated, as younger generations have embraced a culture of instant gratification, new things grow old fast.

To sell papers and achieve ratings, the media need to feed the public’s demand for newness. This is why so much commentary is about the need for “fresh leadership" and “fresh policies". Even though
Brendan Nelson
held the Liberal leadership for just 10 months and
Malcolm Turnbull
for little more than a year,
Tony Abbott
was embraced by large slabs of the media as the new and vibrant personality the opposition had to have.

Recent opinion polls, however, have shown that Abbott’s honeymoon lasted only a few months. His net approval rating (satisfaction with his performance minus dissatisfaction) is stuck in single digits and the buzz of excitement around him has fizzled out. He has entered that horrible period for an opposition leader when the electorate closely associates him with a stream of negativity – his constant criticism of the government.

By nature, Abbott is not a positive person. For all his verbiage and volume of books and newspaper columns, he has never developed or promoted innovative ideas in Australian public life. In every respect, he is that most unlovely and downcast of political figures: the carping conservative.

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The other interesting aspect of Abbott’s (limited) honeymoon has been the media’s treatment of his exercise regime.

In the quest for freshness, there is an obsessive focus on the politics of difference: the things about a leader’s personality that offer the media novelty value – new selling points for the tabloids.

For Abbott, it has been the imagery of his budgie-smugglers and the relentlessness of his fitness program. In a nation weighed down, literally, by the health problems of obesity, daily exercise by a public figure such as the Opposition Leader should be applauded as a wonderful demonstration effect for the rest of the country. Yet incredibly, there is now substantial criticism of Abbott’s exercise habits.

These personal novelties in the media tend to pass through five stages, what might be thought of as a cycle of celebrity.

The first is media fascination about the point of difference.

Stage two is admiration. Abbott experienced this earlier in the year as commentators marvelled at how someone of his age could be so fit.

The third stage is puzzlement, as people start to question the motivation for being different. Why isn’t Abbott a sedentary man sitting on the couch, scoffing down junk food like the rest of society? What are the demons that drive him to compete in triathlons and ocean swims? Stage four is consternation, as the media’s initial praise turns to the quiet grumbles of discontent.

Finally, there is condemnation, as the commentators find a reason for outright criticism.

In Abbott’s case, it is the absurd notion that his fitness regime leaves him with inadequate time in which to fulfil his duties as Opposition Leader. Even though medical studies have shown that fit people are more productive at work and better at coping with the stress of a busy job, this criticism has become the conventional wisdom of the Canberra press gallery.

The celebrity cycle allows the media to milk the maximum amount of “news" coverage from a sideshow issue, twisting the same piece of trivia five different ways. How else can they find enough content to fill the magazine programs that are now broadcast around the clock?

In today’s politics, the end of the celebrity cycle usually corresponds with the end of a leader’s honeymoon period. Some have said Abbott’s honeymoon ended with his unilateral policy announcement on parental leave and then his poor display in the health debate against the Prime Minister. These things did not help, but I think the decisive turning point was the shift in the media’s treatment of his exercise habits.

Abbott made a mistake when he encouraged journalists to cover this side of his life. He thought he was showing the public he was a “real" person, but instead, through the prism of voyeuristic and fickle reporting, he is being portrayed as a freak, a hybrid cross between
Cliff Young
and the Energiser Bunny.